Summary:
There is one middle school in zip code 38320—Camden Junior High School, part of Benton County Schools—serving grades 6 through 8 in a rural Tennessee area.
For parents considering schools in this area, the picture is straightforward since Camden Junior High is the only option for middle school. The school currently ranks in the bottom half of Tennessee middle schools, coming in at 374th out of 594 and earning 2 stars, which is a notable drop from the previous year’s 230th-place ranking and 3-star rating. The school’s strongest subject is Social Studies, where overall proficiency reaches 46.8%—close to the state’s 51.4%—and 7th-grade Social Studies shines at 64.7%, outperforming both the district and the state. Science is a mixed story: 8th-grade Science beats the state average at 48.3%, but overall Science trails the state by about 9 points. The biggest concerns are English Language Arts and Mathematics. ELA proficiency is just 22.8%, which is nearly 18 points below the state and almost 8 points below the district, meaning fewer than 1 in 4 students are reading at grade level. Math sits at 32.7% proficiency, close to the district’s 32.8% but more than 10 points behind the state. Compared to the prior year, Math dropped sharply by 11.7 points and Science fell 9.6 points, suggesting recent academic pressure.
Chronic absenteeism at Camden Junior High is 18.4%, essentially matching the state’s 18.3% and slightly above the district’s 16.9%. The school spends about $13,053 per student, which is fairly substantial, yet results remain below state averages. For families, the key takeaway is that Camden Junior High has clear strengths in Social Studies and 8th-grade Science, but it needs significant attention in Literacy and Math. The school’s ranking decline and double-digit drops in core subjects underscore the urgency for targeted support, while the bright spots show that improvement is possible in specific grades and subjects.
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